The Nine Nether Domain was located not far from the center of the Myriad Domains, a particularly powerful and unique major domain.
Moreover, this domain was exceptionally different from others. While other major domains were suitable for cultivating various Great Daos, the Nine Nether Domain was only suitable for cultivating the Dao of Death.
This was because this domain was exceptionally gloomy and sinister, reputed to have buried nearly half of the myriad realms. Within it existed countless burial coffins, and throughout the ages, it had interred an untold number of powerful experts. There were fearsome lingering spirits and malevolent ghost generals here, making it a paradise for Cultivators of the death path.
Cultivating here was far more effective and faster than in other major domains.
The supreme great sect, the Immortal Sacred Land, was located within the Nine Nether Domain and was its undisputed ruler.
The Immortal Sacred Land was a flourishing great sect with a heritage spanning unknown tens of thousands of years. At its peak, it had housed several ancient Great Sages. Among all the supreme sacred lands across the myriad realms, it could absolutely be considered one of the top, peerless great sects, almost on par with an Emperor Clan, lacking only an Emperor's weapon.
Its strength was evident.
However, over the last several hundred thousand years, the Immortal Sacred Land had gradually declined because the ancient Great Sages within the sacred land had fallen one after another.
First, during the encirclement and suppression of the previous generation's Battle Saint, Gu Yuntong, one of the Immortal Sacred Land's Great Powers had fallen. Later, just a century ago, another Undying Great Sage had also fallen at the hands of the Heavenly Gate's Gate Lord. Now, only one ancient Great Sage remained.
But this had provoked great trouble. Because the encirclement of the Battle Saint King had failed to prevent his transformation, it had instead allowed the Battle Saint King to achieve complete, great perfection. His current cultivation was peerless, suppressing the heavens, and he was coming to exact revenge.
Thus, the Immortal Sacred Land, which once faced the heavens, had now completely sealed itself off and hidden away. Even profound death path Cultivators found it difficult to locate.
However, none of this could stop the arrival of disaster.
Boom—
On this day, a resplendent golden great path pierced through the sky, plunging deep into the Nine Nether Domain. Vast and mighty, shining with golden light, the boundless golden radiance exerted immense pressure upon the entire Nine Nether Domain.
This was because the aura emanating from that golden light path exerted a terrifying suppression on all Cultivators of the death path. It was an ultimate, blazingly intense aura, even more potent than the scorching sun.
Wherever the golden great path passed, all Yin energy and death energy were forcibly incinerated and dispersed. Even nearby death path Cultivators suffered terrible effects, heavily suppressed. Many of the weaker Cultivators were ignited, directly burned to ashes.
The golden light's domineering nature was precisely like this!
Everyone in the Nine Nether Domain saw that upon the golden light path, a heroic young figure slowly stepped forth.
He was so young, yet so powerful. Primordial Chaos Qi coiled around his body, accompanied by the diffusion of dazzling golden light. Around him, the four great sacred beasts—Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise—soared and danced, setting off this heroic man as if he were a Chaos Heavenly Emperor, peerless and unmatched.
Following the golden great path, this man, akin to a Heavenly Emperor, directly descended into the deepest part of the Nine Nether Domain. The aura he released swept across half the major domain, terrifying and boundless, like a brilliant, glorious golden sun illuminating the myriad realms!
This person was none other than the Battle Saint King, Ye Chen. Naturally, he had come today to collect the debt from that day.
He stood in the central region of the Nine Nether Domain. There was no domain lord's divine city here. Staring at the seemingly empty expanse of heaven and earth before him, he gave a cold laugh. "Immortal Sacred Land, do you think hiding like this will allow you to escape?"
Boom—
Boundless light erupted from Ye Chen's body, directly piercing through the void. Primordial Chaos Qi surged, each strand sweeping out, annihilating large swathes of spatial turbulence, transforming the area into a still, empty void.
He charged into it and began deducing, forcibly locating the dimensional world where the Immortal Sacred Land resided, hidden deep within the endless spatial turbulence. Then he launched a forceful assault.
Boom—
Heaven collapsed and earth cracked; everything was on the verge of destruction. Although the Immortal Sacred Land's dimensional world was far more stable than ordinary ones, completely covered by a fearsome Great Power-level formation array, Ye Chen—even before his transformation—had been able to shatter the world barrier of the Ancient Emperor Realm. How much more so now? Facing a Great Power's dimensional world far inferior to the Ancient Emperor Realm, no matter how stable, it could not withstand Ye Chen's attack.
Boom—
Finally, the dimensional barrier of the Immortal Sacred Land was forcibly breached and pierced by Ye Chen. He directly broke into it, entering this legendary, mysterious sacred land said to have buried countless living beings.
As imagined, it was a dark, gloomy, ancient world, quite magnificent—at least several times larger than the Sky Capital Continent.
At its center lay a vast, dark continent crisscrossed with death energy and shrouded in continuous Yin mist. The myriad heavenly stars here were dim and lightless. Range upon range of black mountains stretched out, and countless bleached white bones lay scattered across the earth. Everything appeared so sinister and terrifying, practically a Nine Netherworlds hell-prison.
It could also be seen that within the Immortal Sacred Land, there were numerous burial coffins of all kinds and styles, most of them extremely ancient, some even dating back over a million years.
Ye Chen, fearless, stepped upon the golden great path, which directly pierced through the sky and plunged into the deepest depths. The aura he released caused the many lingering spirits and malevolent entities within the Immortal Sacred Land to scatter and be purified one after another, everything on the verge of ceasing to exist.
Boom—
In the deepest part of the Immortal Sacred Land, there stood a grand, majestic, solemn great hall. Within it, a middle-aged man clad in nether armor sat upon a Divine Throne, holding a dark great halberd. Death energy surged as he pointed it from afar at the approaching Battle Saint King.
Ye Chen descended with great strides, his aura vast and mighty. "Do you have any last words?" he said.
He was forceful and domineering. Even though this was the Immortal Sacred Land, the opponent's home ground, he showed no weakness.
The Great Power on the Divine Throne rose to his full height, his expression unchanged. "I am not him, nor did I attack you. He has left."
The Nether Armor Great Power's words were concise, directly revealing everything.
Ye Chen was slightly surprised and suspicious. But upon careful investigation, he found that the ancient Great Power before him truly was not the one who had attacked him.
The world's rumors said the Immortal Sacred Land had three ancient Great Sages: one fell during the encirclement of the previous Battle Saint; one was blasted apart by the Heavenly Gate's Gate Lord; and the last was the one who attacked Ye Chen. However, no one had expected there was still another supreme ancient Great Power hidden within.
"He has left. I was awakened from slumber by the people of the sacred land to prevent you from acting and destroying the entire sacred land," the Nether Armor Great Power said, his words still concise and clear.
Although the one before him was not the Undying Great Sage who had attacked him, Ye Chen's expression remained icy cold. "You should know that my Battle Saint lineage and your Immortal Sacred Land lineage have a generational feud. My master fell because of your lineage's encirclement. During my transformation, another Great Power from your lineage also attacked. I cannot simply let this pass."
The Nether Armor Great Power said, "Very well. As long as you do not annihilate the Immortal Sacred Land, I have nothing to say. Compensation can be made."
A flicker of surprise and suspicion appeared in Ye Chen's eyes. He hadn't expected this Nether Armor Great Power to be so reasonable.
However, upon reflection, this Nether Armor Great Power likely hoped to avoid a battle. He could sense Ye Chen's peerless strength and boundless, vigorous life force, indicating he was in the rising phase of human potential, with limitless potential—an absolutely fearsome enemy.
Unless he possessed absolute power to keep Ye Chen here, the Nether Armor Great Power absolutely did not wish to lightly engage in battle with a future supreme existence like Ye Chen.
Moreover, his duty was only to guard the Immortal Sacred Land from annihilation, which was why he had been awakened. If possible, he did not wish to offend Ye Chen and would try to resolve the matter if he could.
This was probably the general meaning.
Ye Chen understood.
"Good, I want compensation!" Ye Chen ceased his attack. He knew this was the best possible situation. Although he could attack, he likely wouldn't gain much advantage. After all, this was the Immortal Sacred Land's home ground, where the Nether Armor Great Power held certain advantages.
Moreover, he could sense the strength of this Nether Armor Great Power—even greater than that of the Slaughter Venerable, enough to make him wary. Since the other party was also being reasonable, achieving this outcome suited his intentions perfectly.
The Nether Armor Great Power, with the dark great halberd in his hand, gave a fierce swing. With a loud boom, he immediately cleaved open the dark earth of the Immortal Sacred Land, revealing a massive chasm.
It could be seen that deep within the chasm appeared many ancient burial coffins, most of them extremely old, many decayed, and quite a few reduced to mere traces, lost to the ages.
But in this extreme Yin land, where countless living beings were buried, some unique treasures had naturally been nurtured—like Yin Soul Lotuses or Nine Heavens Spirit Mushrooms, etc.—supreme treasures that could only be nurtured by death energy and Yin energy. For death path Cultivators, they were excellent aids for cultivation.
Ye Chen discovered quite a few such supreme treasures and collected them. Although he did not cultivate the death path, these treasures could also be used for alchemy, possessing extraordinary effects.
"Hmm?"
Suddenly, Ye Chen paused. His gaze swept over and discovered that in the deepest part of the chasm, there actually appeared a peculiar stone coffin. At first glance, it seemed ordinary and unremarkable. However, upon closer inspection, Ye Chen's expression changed because this was actually also a Six-Layered Reincarnation Coffin.
The Six-Layered Reincarnation Coffin was an extraordinary ancient coffin second only to the Nine-Layered Divine Coffin. For example, the Formless Monarch was interred in such an ancient coffin.
Whoosh—
He directly leaped down into the deepest part of the great chasm. Simultaneously, the Nether Armor Great Power did the same. Both ancient Great Powers arrived at the chasm's deepest point.
Ye Chen stared in surprise and suspicion at this Six-Layered Reincarnation Coffin. When it came into contact with a wisp of Ye Chen's primordial Chaos Qi, a special change occurred. The entire mysterious ancient coffin's radiance turned inward, its aged color slowly fading, transforming into a crystal coffin flowing with luminous light, translucent and flawless.
However, when Ye Chen saw the person within the crystal coffin, his expression changed dramatically, as if he had witnessed the most unbelievable thing!